Riot Games’ hotly anticipated foray into FPS games, Valorant, has been officially unveiled with trailers, gameplay footage, and tasty information for expectant fans to sink their teeth into.
Valorant – which was initially code-named ‘Project A’ by Riot – shares a lot of similarities with Counter Strike: Global Offensive in terms of gun play, map design, and features such as a buy menu for weapons, but also takes inspiration from games like Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege by having specialist characters with different abilities, who are known as ‘agents.’
But how have streamers – who Riot will likely use as one of the main initial drivers to push the popularity of the game – and esports pros – who in some cases have already declared that they will be transitioning to competitive Valorant – reacted to all the new info. Will it become the new go-to FPS for streaming? Will it steal audiences and professional players from other, similar esports? Let’s take a look at some of their takes on Valorant.
Twitch’s second most followed active streamer, Ali ‘Myth’ Kabbani, seemed hyped to get his hands on Valorant and also appeared to reveal that he is one of the lucky few to have been chosen to play the game early.
IMA BE PLAYING VALORANT THIS MONTH.
CANT WAIT.
— Myth (@TSM_Myth) March 2, 2020
Team Liquid’s Apex Legends pro Lucas ‘Mendo’ Håkansson – who has also been invited to the early testing session this month – was equally excited and also seemed to hint that Apex could take a back seat once Valorant comes out. He’s even changed his Twitter bio to “Project A Jett main” in reference to one of the agents in the game.
YOOOO THIS IS MY GAME FOR SURE HOLY SHIT I AM EXCITEDhttps://t.co/PrTPAHWO3V
— Liquid Mendo (@Mendo) March 2, 2020
Rainbow Six Siege pro Morquis ‘Modigga’ Hribar says that he “sees potential” in Valorant.
I see potential :0 https://t.co/Vps0m3zxzY
— Modigga (@modigga20) March 2, 2020
However, fellow Rainbow Six Siege player Davide ‘FoxA’ Bucci disagreed, and wasn’t all that impressed with the look of Riot’s FPS.
Dosent really look good, maybe that’s just me. I’m still gonna play it though https://t.co/Cmql6sFI0K
— FoxA (@FoxA_R6) March 2, 2020
The general consensus about Valorant appears to be positive, with many seeming to like its close comparisons to CS:GO but with the fresh look and additional abilities.
The likes of Myth and Mendo may be excited now, but we’ll have to wait until they and several other streamers and pro players get their hands on Valorant at the early access event – which is reported to be between March 10-12 – to see if it lives up to expectations.
